Remember, there are both 6-week and 12-week contests. You can enter both. And you don’t have to be a TT member to join…anyone can enter! However, I will say that most winners tend to use the Turbulence Training forum for social support.

In this week’s fat loss guide, we discuss the perfect TT workout, the transformation mindset, and muscle-building research…

You must have a clear and concise personal philosophy about what you are willing to do and not willing to do. You must be clear in your own mind about your goals. You must know what you are willing to do to succeed. And you must have a clear understanding about the consequences of your actions. When you have this clear foundation for your behaviors, then you will have a blueprint for success.

Next…in our workout section, let’s review the “perfect workout template” I told you about last week. Here’s one of my programs that fits the plan.

Follow that with Specific Warm-up SetsDo one set of 1A and do 1 jump.
Do one set of 1B with 50% of the regular weight and do 5 reps.
Do one set of 1C with 50% of the regular weight and do 5 reps per side.
Do one set of 2A and do 1-2 pullups.
Rest 1 minute and move on to the first circuit.

Finish with Interval Training (You can also wait and do this on Day 2 instead.)
5-minute warm-up.
24 second interval at 8/10 or 9/10 intensity level.
36 second recovery at 3/10 intensity level.
In week 1, repeat 5 more times for a total of 6 intervals.
In week 2, repeat 7 more times for a total of 8 intervals.
In week 3, repeat 9 more times for a total of 10 intervals.
In week 4, repeat 11 more times for a total of 12 intervals.
5-minute cool-down.

BTW, that is an ADVANCED workout. If you are a beginner, try this Beginner Workout.

Tuesday
Get 30 minutes of fun activity – now grab a Green Tea and do this week’s research review.

This study was completed by my former colleagues at McMaster University, and lead by TT user, Dr. Stuart Phillips. It addressed the age-old debate about whether one-set of resistance training was better than 3 sets of resistance training. Only this time, the study was done with advanced scientific measurements.

The study went like this:

8 young men performed two separate workouts.

In one workout, they did ONE set to failure (at 70% 1RM) of unilateral leg extensions.

In the other workout, they did THREE sets to failure (at 70% 1RM) of unilateral leg extensions.

Muscle biopsies were taken at training, 5 hours after training, 24 hours after training, and 29 hours after training.

A protein shake was given after training, and they ate their regular meals for the rest of the day. However, the 24 hour biopsy was taken while fasted. Also, the training was done while fasted. (By fasted, that means not having eaten since the night before.)

The muscle biopsies were studies for levels of muscle protein synthesis using molecular biology.

The results:

The ONE set to failure increased muscle protein synthesis (MPS) at the 5 hour mark, but had returned to resting levels after 29 hours.

The THREE sets to failure increased MPS significantly higher than the ONE set group and MPS stayed elevated for 29 hours.

The researchers conclude…

“These data suggest that 3SET of resistance exercise is more anabolic than 1SET and may lead to greater increases in myofibrillar protein accretion over time.”

CB’s thoughts…

Of course, many factors go into play here, but this tends to be in line with the thinking of most strength coaches.

The application for you:

If you want to build muscle, do more volume (i.e. 3 sets).

If you don’t want to build muscle, do less volume (i.e. one set).

Wednesday

Let’s review the 3 most Over-rated abs exercises I’ve covered on this blog. I call these over-rated because they give “okay” results but have a big downside (low back injury risk). So avoid:

1) Situps
2) V-ups
3) Flutter kicks

Thursday

Do 30 minutes of fun activity…and now let’s review this week’s Facebook Fitness Question of the Week from the Turbulence Training Fanpage.

Q: I’ve lost some fat but now I’m struggling. I don’t think I could ever look like the Transformation finalists!

Answer:
First, be happy with your results. Progress has been made.

Second, if you get a chance, take a quick review of our Transformation Contest entries…you’ll notice that for most of our biggest success, this was NOT their first attempt. It was their second, third, fourth or 21st attempt at trying to transform.

Its just like how someone doesn’t quit smoking without difficulty on their first try. It’s like a how a child doesn’t just hop on a bike and start cruising around the first day they get it. There will be stumbles and stops and starts, but you’re not going to quit right? No way, you’re going to come back stronger than ever in round two. Looking forward to your success!

Friday

Here are the 3 top tips I wrote down from the September 2010 issue of Men’s Health magazine:

1) Research shows the best stability ball exercise for your abs is the ab rollout
2) People eat 35 percent less when family style meals are served away from the table
3) Stretch on off days, 12 hours after you wakeup

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Craig Ballantyne is the author of The Perfect Day Formula: How to Own the Day and Control Your Life. Craig has been a contributor to Men's Health magazine for over 17 years. Today he teaches his gift to high-performing entrepreneurs how to squeeze more out of their days, increase their income, and make more quality time for their families in his Perfect Life Workshop and Work-Life Mastery programs. Craig used his own advice to overcome crippling anxiety attacks in 2006, and he'll teach you his 5 Pillars of Success so you can increase your income, decrease your work time, and live the life of your dreams. Learn more about Craig at craigballantyne.com

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